


The Cave

by moirasrosesroses



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Claustrophobia, David was just trying to to do something nice, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, poor Patrick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29134485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moirasrosesroses/pseuds/moirasrosesroses
Summary: David's plan for Patrick's birthday doesn't quite go as planned. When he tries to make up for it, it goes even more awry.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 8
Kudos: 88





	The Cave

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, as ever, to my lovely beta reader, no-heckin-touch!

“Slowly I turn, step by step, inch by inch,” Patrick teased playfully, rounding on David. 

“Oh, my god,” David shook his head at his spouse’s antics. “If I had known your birthday trip would turn into a  _ Three Stooges _ re-enactment, I would have planned differently.”

Patrick waved him off with a sly smile. “Oh, you love me anyway.” 

David’s grin betrayed his lack of annoyance for his husband and he reached his hands to Patrick’s shoulders as they walked the path to see the falls. “It’s just that every time we go to see the falls, you do that bit.” 

“I can’t help it if I’m hilarious, David,” Patrick’s smile was wide. 

Patrick had insisted that they see the falls one last time before they left the next day to go back home and David couldn’t deny him a final look. It had been a somewhat disappointing trip overall. Niagara Falls were stunning, but the surrounding city… not so much. 

“I just want to take another picture for my parents,” Patrick said, taking out his phone and lining up a perfect shot of the Canadian falls. 

David watched as Patrick snapped another photo and texted it to his parents, hoping the beauty of the falls could salvage the trip. Patrick kept telling him that he had fallen in love with hiking because his mother loved waterfalls. His parents, being the exact opposite of David’s parents, would take him on various trails throughout the province just so they could see as many waterfalls as possible. In what David thought was a stroke of brilliance, he booked a short trip over Patrick’s birthday to see the ultimate waterfalls.

His romantic gesture, however, fell somewhat flat when they actually got to Niagara Falls. There was little in the way of hiking and the city was one giant tacky tourist trap.

Which is why, in a last-minute desperate attempt to save the trip, David Googled “fun tours in my area” and found a cave tour that was conveniently on their way home. One last birthday surprise, he hoped. 

* * *

“Well, David, I gotta hand it to you,” Patrick said as they waited outside the entrance of the cave for the tour to start, “I didn’t take you for a spelunker.” 

“I figured it can’t be much different than the catacombs under Paris,” David shrugged. 

Patrick shook his head gently, wondering for perhaps the millionth time what David’s “before” life was like. 

“And I know we didn’t get to do a lot of stuff you like to do,” David continued. 

“I’d say we did a lot of ‘stuff’ I like to do,” Patrick smirked. 

David feigned annoyance, but his voice betrayed his fondness. “You know what I mean.”

“This is going to be fun,” Patrick said, gazing in awe at the cave. “I’ve actually never done this before.”

David raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

Before Patrick could answer, the tour guide called the group over to welcome them on their tour and to explain the rules. 

Patrick listened intently as the guide detailed what the tour would entail and the various safety aspects they would have to follow, while David let his attention wander. 

After the brief safety introduction, they followed the tour guide into the mouth of the cave and were immediately hit by a wave of cool air. David glanced at Patrick whose smile was as wide as his face. 

The guide stopped the group briefly to discuss the difference between stalactites and stalagmites and David let his thoughts wander again, glancing over at Patrick. He seemed… almost uneasy? But that didn’t seem right. What would Patrick even be uneasy about? David tried to convince himself he was just seeing things. Maybe Patrick was shifting his weight back and forth because he was excited to get further. And maybe he looked paler because the lighting in the cave was fairly minimal. 

As the group continued further into the seemingly never ending caverns, David and Patrick followed up the rear with David keeping a close eye on Patrick. He grasped Patrick’s hand in his at their next stop in the tour, but worry flooded his brain even more when he felt Patrick’s clammy fingers close around his own. And was he crazy or was he feeling slight tremors coming from Patrick’s hand?

He tried to take a quick peek at his struggling spouse, but before he knew it, they were walking again and he couldn’t be certain that there was even anything wrong in the first place. 

“You okay?” David asked in a hushed voice as they trekked further through the cave. He either needed reassurance that Patrick was okay and he was just imagining things or he needed Patrick to tell him sooner rather than later if something was actually wrong. And David knowing Patrick as well as he did, Patrick would have waited until the last possible minute to admit to anything being wrong if David didn’t ask now. 

“David,” Patrick breathed out in a long exhale. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He tightly squeezed his hand in David’s and used his other to wipe his brow.

He  _ was _ right.  _ Fuck _ .

David almost walked into the person in front of him, not noticing that the tour had stopped once again. As the guide droned on in the background, David urgently whispered, “What’s wrong? What can I do?”

“I don’t know, David,” Patrick felt like he was gasping for air. “It’s like the walls are closing in. I don’t-” he took in a raspy breath. “I don’t know what’s happening.” 

“Baby,” David tried desperately. “Patrick, you have to breathe with me, okay?” He made an exaggerated show of breathing deeply in and out, placing Patrick’s hand on his chest so he could feel David’s breath. 

Patrick tried hard to imitate what David was doing, but seemed to be lost in his head.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” David said softly, hoping he wasn’t drawing any attention their way. 

“The walls are closing in and I can’t breathe,” Patrick said in a high whisper. “And I’m so cold. And there’s no oxygen down here.” 

David could tell Patrick was growing more frantic with each passing second. He wrapped him in a warm hug to try and alleviate at least the chill Patrick was feeling. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” David whispered in Patrick’s ear. “I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

“I’m so sorry,” Patrick croaked into David’s chest. “This was supposed to be fun and whatever is happening to me… I’m ruining it.” 

“Mm-mm,” David chided. “Really. It’s okay. I promise.” 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Patrick whispered, but before he could work through it, the group was on their way again.

David waited until the rest of the group went ahead before leading up the rear again, an arm around Patrick’s shoulders. 

“I wish I had known you were claustrophobic before I booked an hour long tour of a cave,” David tried to make light conversation, hoping it might help Patrick feel more at ease. 

“I’m not,” Patrick defended weakly. 

“Kind of seems like you are,” David teased, pinching at Patrick’s arm. 

“But, David, I-” Patrick started. “I didn’t even know. I’m so sorry,” he gasped. 

“No, no, no, no,” David turned his head to look at Patrick’s pained expression. “No, that’s not what I meant at all. I was just teasing.”

Patrick’s eyes were wide with fear. “I know, I’m sorry.” He wound his arm around David’s waist, squeezing at his hip. 

“Hey,” David stopped briefly, letting the group get a few steps ahead. “We can tell the guide we need to go back. We can leave if we want.” He cupped Patrick’s cheek in his free hand. 

Patrick shook his head, chewing his bottom lip. “No,” he said soberly. “We should catch up.” 

Realizing there was no arguing with Patrick when he set his mind to something, David led them down the narrow passage to where their group was again stopped as they listened to the guide explain how this particular part of the cave was formed. 

David leaned over and whispered in Patrick’s ear, “If you feel like you need to stop or just need something from me, squeeze me here, okay?” He put Patrick’s hand on his right bicep. 

Patrick managed a small nod. 

“Patrick,” David said softly. “I can barely see you. Was that a nod?”

“Yeah, okay,” Patrick replied. 

Guilt gnawed deep in David’s stomach at feeling as if he were forcing Patrick to go through with this, but Patrick had said he wanted to continue and not turn back. And it wasn’t as if he’d known Patrick would be afraid of their tour. He had seemed really excited when David told him initially. 

Their tour wound through a somewhat narrow passageway before opening up into a giant cavern with ridiculously high ceilings and wide open spaces. David breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that it might give Patrick at least a few minutes of respite from his anxiety. 

But his relief quickly turned to panic as the guide announced, “We’re going to show you now what it feels like to be in total absolute darkness.”

The guide continued droning on, but David could feel Patrick’s body stiffen next to him. “What did he say?” Patrick murmured. 

David strained to hear what the guide was telling them so he could at least prepare Patrick as best as possible. “They’re going to shut the lights out for a minute. Only a minute,” he said calmly, like it was no big deal. 

As if on cue, the lights shut off as soon as David was done preparing Patrick and the group was left in oppressive darkness. 

“Your eyes can’t adjust to this darkness,” the guide said, breaking through the blackness. “Since there isn’t any light at all that gets in, until we turn on the lights again, this is all you’ll see.”

David felt a tight squeeze on his right bicep. “I’m right here,” he whispered, groping through the dark and finding the back of Patrick’s head. He traced his fingers through his hair, hoping it might help relax him.

David was sure that the “minute” that was promised was more like an eternity, but eventually the lights did come back on and he quickly looked at Patrick. “You okay?” he asked. “That had to have been the worst of it.” 

Patrick was trying to regulate his breathing, but was clutching at his chest with his free hand. “What does a heart attack feel like?”

“I promise you’re not having a heart attack,” David calmly soothed him. “It’s an anxiety attack.” 

“How do you know?” Patrick winced, his hand still grasping into his shirt. 

“Because I’ve had them before.”

Patrick glanced at David with a tender expression not of pity, but of compassion and understanding. 

“How are you not freaking out right now?” Patrick asked suddenly. 

David smirked. “Someone has to keep it together.”

A short laugh escaped Patrick, despite the severe dread he was feeling. “I guess it’s your turn.” 

David laughed a little harder than he meant and a woman in front of him turned around and eyed the curious scene behind her. It only made it harder for David to contain his laughter thinking about her trying to comprehend what was happening: David running his fingers through the hair of a very paler than normal Patrick who was hanging onto David’s shoulders with a vice-like grip. 

They continued to follow the tour as they zigzagged here and there through the vast system of caverns that the cave had to offer. David hoped that Patrick was feeling slightly more relaxed as the promise of emerging in one piece was coming closer. 

Until he felt Patrick’s grip tightening on his arm. 

Rounding on Patrick, he scanned Patrick’s face for some indication of what might be wrong. 

“Sorry,” Patrick grimaced apologetically. “I forgot for a sec that was our signal. It was supposed to be an appreciative, ‘thanks for your help’ squeeze.”

David let out a breath he had been holding and smiled warmly. “As long as you’re okay.” 

Patrick nodded and then remembered that it was too dark for David to really see him. “I am,” he promised. 

Catching back up with the group, he finally heard the tour guide say, “This is the last stop on our tour and I hope you enjoyed it. We’re going to lead you out the way you came in. Feel free to walk the trails in the rest of the park on your own.”

As they finally reached the exit to the cave, he looked over to Patrick who was staring sheepishly straight at the ground and letting David lead him along. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Patrick said, not looking up from the ground. 

David blinked a few times in the sun, letting his eyes readjust to the light and walked to a bench where they could sit down. 

“David, I don’t know what happened,” Patrick said, clearly embarrassed. 

“I mean, I’m afraid of moths, so, I can’t really judge anyone too harshly for their fears,” David teased. 

Patrick let out a sharp laugh. “No, I know you were trying to do something nice for me and I didn’t know that that was going to happen.” 

“Well, now we know not to go into anymore caves,” David said brightly. 

Resting his head on David’s shoulder, he said quietly, “I learned a lot about stalactites, at least. And sandstone. And limestone. And bats.”

“What a great birthday present,” David laughed sharply, bringing his hand to Patrick’s knee. 

Patrick sat upright and leveled David a serious gaze. “Any birthday I spend with you is a great birthday.” 

David snorted derisively. “Okay, I’m glad I’ve effectively brainwashed you.” 

A smile finally appeared on Patrick’s face. “I’ll have you know that I came to that conclusion all on my own.”


End file.
